Feeding a disabled Monarch
Reposting cuz the last vid I shared had an obnoxious burp sound effect (not me) meant for family.
Just thought I’d share. It’s actually not too hard to do, just gotta be super careful.
Crumpled wings. Could be anything from OE or poor diet as a caterpillar since they can get aggressive competing for food even with lots around.
Not sure what to do yet. It may have OE so I’m keeping it isolated and washing my hands after handling it. I also dispose of everything in contact with bleach. It has a ton of energy but it’ll never fly. I tried to macro photo the scales but didn’t work - can’t see jack. Don’t have a microscope. Just seems very healthy aside from wings.
Some say freeze them to sleep, some say release them and let nature take its course. But it can have OE and part of nature in releasing it includes starving to death. Hard call for me honestly. Let’s not debate but feel free to share your stories.
For now it has a big enclosure with flowers, sun, and nectar water. I work from home so caring for it isn’t a big deal.
We will see.